The invention relates to a device for catching insects, spiders and other such small animals.
Known methods for removing insects and spiders from the environment of human beings are, e.g., the fly flap and the lime twig. These are, however, questionable instruments for removing insects from a hygienic standpoint. Spray cans and powders with, e.g., insecticides especially for flying and creeping insects are commercially available. This is an environmentally harmful but common killing method. When improperly and frequently applied in inhabited spaces, insecticides present even for human beings a health risk which is not to be neglected. According to another current method, lured-in flying insects are killed with special devices by means of electric current. Also known are small electrically operated table vacuum cleaners that can also be used for sucking in insects and spiders. A regular vacuum cleaner can also be used, but this is time-consuming, cumbersome and often times questionable, since vacuuming off of, e.g., food, with a vacuum cleaner is very unhygienic.
Another solution are devices with a pulsating suction unit and a suction nozzle connected thereto. This is based on the knowledge that one can almost always approach, e.g., a fly with the finger up to about 1 cm before it flies away. A suction nozzle that is required for sucking-in a fly has approximately the cross sectional dimensions of a finger or thumb, and only a short pulse-like suction burst needs to be applied in order to suck in the object from short distance.
A device of this kind is known from DE 3225330A1. In this known device, a catch piece that can be unscrewed is arranged anteriorly of a hollow cylinder in which a piston and a tension element are arranged. The catch space for the insects is located inside the catch piece. On the inlet-side, the catch space is completed by a one-way valve that acts as a blocking element. On the outlet side, the catch space is completed by a perforated basket. The helical spring that forms the tension element is arranged between the front side of the piston and the front end of the hollow cylinder and stores its energy by axial squeezing. A pressure stamp that acts on the rear side of the piston and is provided as tension member is attached at the bottom of the pot-shaped tension chuck and guided outside on the hollow cylinder. In this known device, a catch space is required upstream of the hollow cylinder and sealed against the hollow cylinder by a perforated basket. The piston, which is operated by the helical spring and guided in the hollow cylinder merely at the cylindrical piston surface, can tilt relatively easily and thereby interfere the suction process.
G 91 16 394.3 discloses a further developed pulsating suction unit, in which the spring-elastic tension elements are arranged between the rear side of the piston and the bottom part of the hollow cylinder. On its rear side, the piston is connected to a guide rod for guiding the piston and for loading the spring-elastic tension elements. As a result, the guide rod that is connected with the piston ensures safe guiding of the piston. As the same time, the guide rod serves as the tension member for the tension springs by providing it with a tension lever. The complex structure and constructive length of the pulsating suction unit, which includes the length of the suction tube, the length of the cylinder, and the length of the handle with the tension lever, are disadvantages of this arrangement.